Thanks to the CRAFTSMAN, the CAR is finally running!
FRIDAY Night:
8:00 PM - Drove my loud as hell car to the UPS customer service office to pick up the last and final pieces of the STAGE III system. Waited one hour in the cold along with 40 other folks but eventually received my package. The UPS guy scared the hell out of me when he said that he almost accidentally game my package away to some elderly woman with a similar address just a few minutes earlier...tragedy averted.
9:00 to 11:00 PM - Removed parts from the top of the engine to access the manifold and heads. Carefully took note of each bolt and sensor removed with care placed on keeping the intake openings squeaky clean. Here's a pic.
The engine bay is super tight as you can see.
11:00 PM - Went to bed.
SATURDAY:
10:00 to 1:30 PM - Began separating the parts in the kit and take pictures for EBAY. Gawked at the difference between OEM and AWE. For example, here is my old crappy plastic mass airflow housing compared to AWE's bad ass black billet aluminum piece:
Here is the old S4 24lbs injectors vs. the massive "Green Giants" flowing 66lbs:
And the old plastic transition hose with the ludicrous AWE Silicone replacement:
Then changed the spark plugs. The old ones, Bosch Platins, had 40,000 miles on them and need to go. The new ones, NGK Platinum's, are matched to the AWE kit. The Bosch had some degradation and deposit build-up but they didn't look to bad. The NGK is longer and has a traditional tip:
Getting them into the heads were a pain in the ass. You need to remove everything around them to get at it, then pull off the wiring harness, and pull out the coil pack. Also, it's surprising how deep they go into the motor:
1:30 to 2:00 PM - Had lunch.
2:00 to 3:00 PM - Now the hard part. Began removing the fuel rail. Had to disconnect a bunch of hoses and connectors just to get to the four bolts that hold it in. According to the instructions, it's just a matter of "gently wiggling out the rail and the injectors will come lose". WRONG, what a pain to pull the old ones free. Then it's just a matter of replacing them. I want to murder the guy who authored the instructions! I ran into 4 seemingly insurmountable problems:
1. The new injectors need to be oriented 90 degrees from stock injector orientation. They won't FIT THAT WAY. There is too much crap in the way.
2. It's impossible to insert the wiring harness clip back into the injectors...ARGH!!
3. I can't unclip 2 coolant lines that are in the way of the rear injectors. Without them out, I can't even think about putting the new ones on.
4. How the hell am I going to cut an opening in my airbox,...and to the specifications noted in the instructions? Perhaps I can spend 5 hours drilling 790 holes and sawing the remainder? IDK!
The Answer? A new set of eyes. Called the CRAFTSMAN and he showed up within the hour.
4:00 to 9:00 PM - The CRAFTSMAN pretty much figured it all out. The orientation and wiggle room problem required carefully slicing the wiring harness sheath. The wiring harness clip,...well I was completely an idiot about this one. He simply put the wire clip in and pushed it on. No brain surgery necessary. And the coolant hose required simple compression on either side to free. Finally the airbox modification, he grabbed thePerfectLine's angle grinder, slapped the box on the vice, and busted it out in 3.5 minutes!!
So at about 8:30 PM, we had the injectors in, the connectors on, the rail bolted in, the myriad hoses, clamps, the clips back together, the airbox in, the massive MAF housing on with Hitachi MAF inserted and airflow screen properly oriented, the transition hose one, the Y-Pipe bolted on, the engine covers back, the new ECU in, the tools all packed away, and the garage cleaned up.
I hopped into the car and put the key into the ignition and clicked it to the first position. We hear the oil and fuel pump prime and then suddenly gasoline starts spilling all over the place!! I race to shut off the car and placed a metal pan underneath the motor and luckily caught most of the gas.
We peeked inside the motor and discovered that the gas was coming from 2 injectors. Our hearts sank. I quickly fell into a near tearful depression. We both agreed that the injectors weren't damaged. It had to do with seating problems. So the answer?...we do everything ALL OVER AGAIN!! KILL ME!!
The Craftsman drove home disheartened and after 10 hours of car work, I was both exhausted and punchy. The garage stank of gas and the car was nowhere near finished. I made myself a Swanson's Hungry Man Dinner, drank a Newcastle, and went to bed at around midnight. My wife was supportive.
SUNDAY:
10:00 AM - Got up and changed, had a bowl of cereal, watered the lawn, plants, and potted citrus trees and got back into the garage determined.
10:00 to Noon - Got everything out, yet again. Got the fuel rail off and pulled out the leaking injectors...and sure enough, the "O" ring was damaged. I grabbed one off an old injector, lubricated it with some brake cleaner, and slipped in on. It seated with a nice suction sound. As for the other injector?...well we just didn't seat that one at all. It fell off the rail as soon as I pull up on it. The "O" ring looked good and I re-seated that one as well. New problem. How do I get the injectors back on and oriented properly, and how do I get the spacers on! I only have 2 hands!
Noon to 2:00 - The Craftsman again shows up to save the day! He orients the injectors, clears some room around them for the wiring harness, and pushes them in. Then we orient the fuel rail and the Craftsman deftly maneuvers his fingers and places the spacers in the right position. We plug in all the hoses and connectors, and this time, we don't put ANY tools away. I get into the car, click the key to first position, the Craftsman eyes the rail, the fuel pump primes and NO LEAKAGE!! WOOHOO!!!!
The motor settles to a very nice and smooth idle, the Check Engine Light is off, no smell, no dripping,....IT WORKS!! We high fived several times and cleaned up the garage.
After about 5 minutes of engine warm-up, we take it for a spin. My mechanic said it would take a week for the ECU to shake down which means that in the mean time, I might have some cold-start, boost hesitation, and idle issues. He told me to set up a follow-up visit in a week. The boost hesitation is actually quite bad. It's less hesitation and more like boost disappearance. It simply cuts out and comes back on. I eased off the throttle and I'm not bringing the revs anywhere past 4000 until Dynospot takes a look at it. I'll set up an appointment tomorrow.
4:00 PM - Writing this blog entry. I'm tired of typing and I'm hungry so I'll get back to you guys tomorrow.
8:00 PM - Drove my loud as hell car to the UPS customer service office to pick up the last and final pieces of the STAGE III system. Waited one hour in the cold along with 40 other folks but eventually received my package. The UPS guy scared the hell out of me when he said that he almost accidentally game my package away to some elderly woman with a similar address just a few minutes earlier...tragedy averted.
9:00 to 11:00 PM - Removed parts from the top of the engine to access the manifold and heads. Carefully took note of each bolt and sensor removed with care placed on keeping the intake openings squeaky clean. Here's a pic.
The engine bay is super tight as you can see.
11:00 PM - Went to bed.
SATURDAY:
10:00 to 1:30 PM - Began separating the parts in the kit and take pictures for EBAY. Gawked at the difference between OEM and AWE. For example, here is my old crappy plastic mass airflow housing compared to AWE's bad ass black billet aluminum piece:
Here is the old S4 24lbs injectors vs. the massive "Green Giants" flowing 66lbs:
And the old plastic transition hose with the ludicrous AWE Silicone replacement:
Then changed the spark plugs. The old ones, Bosch Platins, had 40,000 miles on them and need to go. The new ones, NGK Platinum's, are matched to the AWE kit. The Bosch had some degradation and deposit build-up but they didn't look to bad. The NGK is longer and has a traditional tip:
Getting them into the heads were a pain in the ass. You need to remove everything around them to get at it, then pull off the wiring harness, and pull out the coil pack. Also, it's surprising how deep they go into the motor:
1:30 to 2:00 PM - Had lunch.
2:00 to 3:00 PM - Now the hard part. Began removing the fuel rail. Had to disconnect a bunch of hoses and connectors just to get to the four bolts that hold it in. According to the instructions, it's just a matter of "gently wiggling out the rail and the injectors will come lose". WRONG, what a pain to pull the old ones free. Then it's just a matter of replacing them. I want to murder the guy who authored the instructions! I ran into 4 seemingly insurmountable problems:
1. The new injectors need to be oriented 90 degrees from stock injector orientation. They won't FIT THAT WAY. There is too much crap in the way.
2. It's impossible to insert the wiring harness clip back into the injectors...ARGH!!
3. I can't unclip 2 coolant lines that are in the way of the rear injectors. Without them out, I can't even think about putting the new ones on.
4. How the hell am I going to cut an opening in my airbox,...and to the specifications noted in the instructions? Perhaps I can spend 5 hours drilling 790 holes and sawing the remainder? IDK!
The Answer? A new set of eyes. Called the CRAFTSMAN and he showed up within the hour.
4:00 to 9:00 PM - The CRAFTSMAN pretty much figured it all out. The orientation and wiggle room problem required carefully slicing the wiring harness sheath. The wiring harness clip,...well I was completely an idiot about this one. He simply put the wire clip in and pushed it on. No brain surgery necessary. And the coolant hose required simple compression on either side to free. Finally the airbox modification, he grabbed thePerfectLine's angle grinder, slapped the box on the vice, and busted it out in 3.5 minutes!!
So at about 8:30 PM, we had the injectors in, the connectors on, the rail bolted in, the myriad hoses, clamps, the clips back together, the airbox in, the massive MAF housing on with Hitachi MAF inserted and airflow screen properly oriented, the transition hose one, the Y-Pipe bolted on, the engine covers back, the new ECU in, the tools all packed away, and the garage cleaned up.
I hopped into the car and put the key into the ignition and clicked it to the first position. We hear the oil and fuel pump prime and then suddenly gasoline starts spilling all over the place!! I race to shut off the car and placed a metal pan underneath the motor and luckily caught most of the gas.
We peeked inside the motor and discovered that the gas was coming from 2 injectors. Our hearts sank. I quickly fell into a near tearful depression. We both agreed that the injectors weren't damaged. It had to do with seating problems. So the answer?...we do everything ALL OVER AGAIN!! KILL ME!!
The Craftsman drove home disheartened and after 10 hours of car work, I was both exhausted and punchy. The garage stank of gas and the car was nowhere near finished. I made myself a Swanson's Hungry Man Dinner, drank a Newcastle, and went to bed at around midnight. My wife was supportive.
SUNDAY:
10:00 AM - Got up and changed, had a bowl of cereal, watered the lawn, plants, and potted citrus trees and got back into the garage determined.
10:00 to Noon - Got everything out, yet again. Got the fuel rail off and pulled out the leaking injectors...and sure enough, the "O" ring was damaged. I grabbed one off an old injector, lubricated it with some brake cleaner, and slipped in on. It seated with a nice suction sound. As for the other injector?...well we just didn't seat that one at all. It fell off the rail as soon as I pull up on it. The "O" ring looked good and I re-seated that one as well. New problem. How do I get the injectors back on and oriented properly, and how do I get the spacers on! I only have 2 hands!
Noon to 2:00 - The Craftsman again shows up to save the day! He orients the injectors, clears some room around them for the wiring harness, and pushes them in. Then we orient the fuel rail and the Craftsman deftly maneuvers his fingers and places the spacers in the right position. We plug in all the hoses and connectors, and this time, we don't put ANY tools away. I get into the car, click the key to first position, the Craftsman eyes the rail, the fuel pump primes and NO LEAKAGE!! WOOHOO!!!!
The motor settles to a very nice and smooth idle, the Check Engine Light is off, no smell, no dripping,....IT WORKS!! We high fived several times and cleaned up the garage.
After about 5 minutes of engine warm-up, we take it for a spin. My mechanic said it would take a week for the ECU to shake down which means that in the mean time, I might have some cold-start, boost hesitation, and idle issues. He told me to set up a follow-up visit in a week. The boost hesitation is actually quite bad. It's less hesitation and more like boost disappearance. It simply cuts out and comes back on. I eased off the throttle and I'm not bringing the revs anywhere past 4000 until Dynospot takes a look at it. I'll set up an appointment tomorrow.
4:00 PM - Writing this blog entry. I'm tired of typing and I'm hungry so I'll get back to you guys tomorrow.
posted by supergoober at
3:10 PM
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